ABSTRACT
Is there still a need for home-grown audiovisual content that roots children and young people in their unique culture or tradition, told from their own perspective, and connected to their daily lives? This chapter aims to examine various types of government initiatives and legally binding international agreements that were implemented in various parts of the world at the turn of the 21st century to support and regulate home-grown children's television content. Concrete examples are selected from Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, and the Middle East. The chapter also provides a brief overview of some of the legally binding regional and international initiatives implemented to support cultural diversity in the global television program flow at the turn of the century. The concluding section outlines some of the new challenges and responses propelled by the unfolding digital distribution revolution and growing popularity of video-sharing platforms such as Netflix that have dramatically reshaped our global media landscape by 2020.
